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Scapegoat 101
No petty politics in
matters of civil rights
Discrimination is legal in Nebraska.
And if some state senators have any
thing to say about it, that’s the way it will
stay.
A bill currently before the Legislature’s
Judiciary Committee, LB280, would outlaw
same-sex marriages in Nebraska and would
not recognize those performed in any other
state.
That’s unfair and just plain wrong —
or as one concerned father said last week at
the bill’s committee hearing: “LB280 is gay
bashing with a legal club.”
Supporters cite biblical examples and
decry die breakup of the American family
in urging the bill’s passage.
The bill’s sponsor, Sen. Jim Jensen of
Omaha, said last week: “Marriage is the
bond that keeps the family together, and I’m
deeply concerned about marriage and the
family.”
That’s right on track, senator. But it’s a
shame you only extend that concern to your
heterosexual constituents.
It is the height of political irresponsi
bility to preach that recognizing committed
relationships among gays and lesbians is
somehow contrary to “family values.” Even
Doug Patton, the director of the Nebraska
Christian Coalition, conceded to Sen. Ernie
Chambers of Omaha that same-sex mar
riages would not negatively impact hetero
sexual couples.
a 3u-percent divorce rate, unplanned
pregnancies. Drugs and violence in public
schools. An educational system falling into
disarray. Inner cities in economic ruin. Those
are some of th| ^al ^ppo^Ieins facing
America's families. >
And LB280 is the best Nebraska’s lead
ers can come up with?
That’s called political scapegoatism,
and there should be no place for that within
the government of this state.
Other supporters of the bill recall bibli
cal passages, particularly from the Book of
Leviticus, denouncing same-sex unions.
That’s ancient Hebrew law—hardly a
code upon which to build modem laws. If it
is, then by all means let’s not just pick and
choose those passages convenient to our
cause. Let’s get serious about it. Let’s le
galize polygamy. Legalize slavery. Ban poly
cotton blends. Ban ham and bacon and lob
ster. Pull Noxema from the shelves.
LB280 is pure politics, and bad politics
at that. What makes it even worse is that it
comes at the expense of some Nebraskans’
civil rights.
But the Legislature has an opportunity
to show the pioneering spirit of this state by
passing Chambers’ LB407, which would
legalize same-sex marriages in Nebraska.
Where civil rights are concerned, there
is no room for petty politics.
' Or at least there shouldn’t be.
The Judiciary Committee — and the
Legislature as a whole, if either bill gets that
far—should reject LB280 and pass LB407
and support the rights of all Nebraskans.
Editorial Policy
Unsigned editorials are the opinions of the
Spring 1997 Daily Nebraskan. They do not
necessarily reflect the views of the Univer
sity of Nebraska-Lincoln, its employees, its
student body or the University of Nebraska
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opinion of its author. The Board of Regents
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policy is set by the Daily Nebraskan Edito
rial Board. The UNL Publications Board,
established by the regents, supervises the
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set by the regents, responsibili ty for the edi
torial content of the newspaper lies solely
in the hands of its student employees.
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Mehsling’s
VIEW
Kwww...rv\e Good'Oi tM.
Anne
HJERSMAN
Death before life
Justice blind to 'viability of the unborn
Zachary Taylor Griesemer never
had a chance.
He never had a chance to coo his
first word, or teeter around on
wobbly, little legs, or play peek-a
boo.
He will never know what it feels
like to fall in love, or to giggle
uncontrollably with a best friend. He
will never own a puppy.
He will never skip. He will never
run. He will never sing. He will
never hum.
He will never learn how to snap
his fingers or whistle a tune. He will
never believe in Santa Claus, the
Tooth Fairy or the Easter Bunny.
He will never know the world
outside his mother’s womb. And he
will never know the dreams that
died with him the day a drunken
driver crashed into his mother’s car
and fatally wounded her, leaving
Zachary’s father without a wife or a
son.
Less than a month from birth,
probably had a bedroom with a crib,
some clothes, a changing table and
toys.
His mother and father probably
u
Now all that
Zachary's father
has to show for his
son's brief life is a
birth certificate,
a baptismal
certificate and a
death certificate,
issued on the same
date — and lots of
timeless, shattered
dreams."
had begun to fantasize about whom
their son would become — what his
talents would be. They had certainly
imagined what he would lode like,
whose eyes he would have, which
side of the family he would most
resemble.
This little person already had
quite a life — loving parents and all
kinds of potential.
But he was robbed of that by a
24-year-old man who chose to drive
while he was under the influence of
alcohol.
And then little Zachary was
robbed of his humanity by a Ne
braska statute that says he was not
really a person — and thus, not a
victim of homicide — because he
had not been bom at the time of the
accident.
He was delivered by Caesarean
section at the hospital shortly
afterward but died several hours
later.
Now all that Zachary’s father has
to show for his son’s brief life is a
birth certificate, a baptismal
certificate and a death certificate,
issued on the same date — and lots
of timeless, shattered dreams. He is
left to grieve the loss of both the son
he never knew and the woman he
loved more than anyone in the
world.
But when the man who killed
them goes to trial on Dec. 20, he
will be charged with only one death.
Zachary’s death will go unrecog
nized by the state of Nebraska,
though it will not be forgotten by
those who loved him.
To say this “fetus” was “viable” is
an understatement — to say he
wasn’t is a cold, sterile, tragic
mistake.
Surely the legislators of this state
can recognize that, even if the law
as it is now refuses to recognize the
life of Zachary Taylor Griesemer.
Hjersman is a senior news
editorial and English major and
the night editor and a columnist
for the Daily Nebraskan.
V/
■ *
"■ ' ““,f~"'
. . —
